Page 33 of Hell Yes

CHAPTER 12

JESSE

Jesse always trusted in three things: his gut, his crew, and his dogs.

And something about Val told him that she was as resilient as his crew. More than he’d imagined. And the way that Madz and Ozzy were trotting along in front of Val, protective of her, told Jesse a lot. Dogs had a sixth sense about people. His dogs at least. He trusted them more than strangers when it came to reading a situation or a person.

Their reaction to her mirrored his gut instinct. And while it gave him peace of mind, his body’s reaction to her told Jesse that he was in a whole shitload of trouble.

He didn’t like the way his stomach flipped over when he’d held Val. Fuck, he didn’t like the fact that he’d held her at all. Why the fuck had he hugged her? Comforting vulnerable women was not his thing. But Val? He didn’t think twice. And seeing that Xander was the same, trying to comfort her when she so obviously was about to break? What the hell was wrong with the two of them?

That cult she came from did a number on her. And if anyone from that group so much as tried to lay a finger on Val, Jesse vowed they would see those pearly gates a hell of a lot sooner than they expected.

He glanced over at Xander, and not just urges, but feelings he was not prepared for, slammed into his body. Hell, he’d been feeling restless ever since Xander had shown up on his doorstep this morning, bleary-eyed but still fucking hot with that dark scruff of his, and those knowing blue eyes. Eyes that gave Jesse a long once over and made his dick hard. Fuck. And then at Dante’s, with Val, the three of them together in that kitchen was better than good. Dirty images filled Jesse’s mind, and it was all he could think about. But the timing sucked.

Fuck, don’t think about sucking.

Val on her knees. Xander the same. Both of them worshipping Jesse’s cock.

Fucking hell. Now was not the time to think about threesomes and boners.

He glanced at the horizon and forced his mind to focus on the real issue. The Krypt. Would they launch an all-out assault on Hellraisers’ turf? They’d probably wait until the dead of night if they did attack. Or maybe they’d lure them into a trap, somewhere off site. Then there was a matter of their gun and drug runs. They had deliveries to make and having a rival crew on their back would mean more guys on protective detail. And less crew on site to keep up with the drug manufacturing. And the pick-up points on the supplier side.

Hellraisers would have to attack first and push back hard. Enough to eliminate them or force the Krypt to get gone. Neither crew wanted any police sniffing around.

By the time they’d arrived at the clubhouse, Jesse’s body was calm but his mind, not so much. And he’d been right earlier when he told Val that she was now a part of them. What that might be, he didn’t know yet. But that weird feeling in his gut told him she was here to stay. With him. With Xander. And fuck if that didn’t get his blood racing like an inferno again.

Without thinking, he placed his hand on Val’s back and guided her into the main living space, Xander still close on her other side. When Xander did the same, his hand brushed Jesse’s and all three of them jolted. The chatter in the room hushed as Jesse felt eyes on them.

Gage stood at the front of the room, arms crossed, giving Jesse a glare that meant he was in for a Gage Hellion lecture. That meant a lot of yelling.

He quickly pulled his arm away from Val—and Xander—and moved to sit on one of the chairs in the room. Val took the one next to him, Xander the next, while Dante (Jesse had all but forgotten he was with them) walked to the other side of the room to talk to Sonny and Avery. Jesse gave the dogs the command to sit and guard so they plopped down near Val’s feet.

“All right,” Gage bellowed and everyone in the room was silent. “Since we’re finally all here, let’s talk about last night. It was a clusterfuck. Jesse, Xander, since you decided to play hero and storm the gambling ring without warning, tell us exactly what happened.”

Jesse stood up and repeated what they’d told Sonny in the car on the ride back. When he was done, he sat back down and waiting for the blowback.

“Going into that warehouse, just the two of you, was stupid as fuck. But, given that a member of our crew, Sage, was in there, I get it,” Gage replied. “Xander, you need to create a plan B if the comms get jammed.”

Xander nodded but said nothing. Which was unusual, Normally, the guy never shut up. Jesse glanced over and Xander stared back at him. It was clear they both had taken a huge risk last night, but they would do it again. Not just for Sage, but for Val.

“What’s done is done. Everyone got back all right. But now, the Krypt are pissed and our sources tell us they’re planning retaliation. That means all our operations are on watch, twenty-four seven?—”

Before Gage could finish his sentence, cell phones began to chime.

“Alarm notification, south fence,” Xander stood up.

“Sonny, Dante, Wyatt, Jackson, get on the ATVs and go check it out. I’ll follow,” Gage commanded. “Xander, Jesse, take Val and get to the bunker. The rest of you, check out the rest of our property lines. We’ll text you when we know more. Avery, go to Nate’s and stay with Rochelle.”

“No way.” Avery stood up.

Despite being seven months pregnant, she looked fierce and ready to fight.

“Do what I say,” Gage repeated.

Sonny began to talk to Avery, but she began to argue and followed him out of the room.

“Come on, let’s go,” Jesse urged Val.